My Portfolio

Approximately 85 of Col John Hazzard Carson's many descendants met in Marion, NC on the third weekend in June 2012, for the first weekend reunion.  John was born in 1752 in the Kingdom of Ireland and emigrated to America in 1773.  In 1775, he moved to Burke County, North Carolina in an area...

Each year, we have had the tradition to get together as family--Diane and me and our posterity-- for a couple of days.  This year, we opted to use bonus time at Park Plaze Resort in Park City, Utah where Diane and I are owners. The six families (ours and our five...

My younger kid sister, she happened to go to nursing school here in Columbus.  My wife was in the same nursing class, and my brother's wife was in the same grade at the old St. Francis Hospital here in town.  So when I was in the army I would call my...

My Dad was taken out of school at an early age and was put to work with his dad, first was "cutting ties" (cutting down trees and shaping them into railroad ties).  Then they both went to Texas to work in the oilfields.  First they worked dismantling huge steel oil tanks. ...

I LOVE - LOVE - LOVE playing GAMES!!!   When I was a young child we played lots of games - I played games with my siblings and with my parents.  Some of the old favorite games I remember playing either with family or friends were Hide & Seek, Ennie-I-Over, Jack’s,...

  Writing about our mother would require a full book, but over the past several months since her passing I have discovered even more to appreciate about the way she lived her life. I have finally set to the task of going through her things to decide what to keep. In...

My Mother never went to college, nor had her parents. Her Mom had never worked outside the home and her Dad was a postal worker...a highly read one I believe. My Mother told me on occasion that her parents, who were originally from a Maryland farming community, didn't encourage post high...

Mom grew up with 8 siblings and a loving Mom. Her father provided for the family but on his own terms as an alcoholic. She dreamed to be a singer like Billie and Ella but knew it was near impossible. One day while out on the front porch she heard the...

Mothers “When you are a mother, you are never really alone in your thoughts. A mother always has to think twice, once for herself and once for her child.”                                                                        Italian film actress and mother -Sophia Loren....

On the road…again!!! Afghanistan to Zambia Chronicles of a Footloose Forester By Dick Pellek   Giving Up Barbershops Except for the one time he went to a barber in Gainesville, Florida before leaving for the Organization for Tropical Studies study program in Costa Rica in 1970, the Footloose Forester decided to...

I was just four years old when the men from my father's birth family gathered for a four generations photograph.  I'm standing in front of my Great-Grandfather, William May.  My Father, Bob is behind him and to the left. And my Grandfather, Fred is to my Dad's right. A more formal...

  The Reynolds family celebrated their family reunion July 8 – 10, 2011 in Tampa Florida honoring the descendants of Matilda Reynolds originating from Clay County Georgia. The Reynolds family activities aimed at “Bridging the Gap from Generation To Generation” included a Meet and Greet on Friday, a tour of the...

It was the year 2006 and it was a normal day in my life and I was looking forward to a quiet weekend. Joe and  Chantel, my daughter and son-in-law,  were there and we were just enjoying family. It was not uncommon for us to pull a board game out to...

Eons ago, when I was a child, every Australian back garden had a selection of fruit trees growing – a lemon, orange, plum, apricot and peach were the most common. Families with a larger garden also planted nectarines, mulberry, fig, crab apple, quince, pomegranate and other more exotic fruit producing trees...

Over the past couple of years, Diane and her sister had been heavily engaged in caregiving for her parents, but by 2010 both of them had passed on.  My wife, Diane, decided it would be great to have some time with her sister, Colleen, who is the caregiver for her husband,...

Catheriine and I raised eight children. Problems did not escape us. Our seventh child, a young boy (Gerard)  passed away at age fourteen from a Staphylococcal infection which was supposed to be easily cured  with Antibiotics. While the explantions were thin, we could never understand the failure. Some forty years later we received our...

Holiday traditions always include great food. Here are some of our family recipes. Your special meals will be remembered by your children and grandchildren. Remember to ask your parents and grandparents for their special recipes. As you publish your family delicacies try some of the recipes of other members. You may...

Dutch Traditional Christmas - While serving a mission for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in The Netherlands, 1963-1965, I first became acquainted with the Dutch Christmas Tradition of children anxiously looking forward to St. Nicholas Eve on December 5th.  I was serving in Apeldoorn and had recently been...

My mother had many stories to tell about her mother in-law, my 'Maw-Maw' Wagner.  As I put things in perspective now, I must say my grandmother was brave enough to be her own person.  My mom and dad out of economic necessity lived with his parents for several months after their marriage...

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